Police attacked with axe during raid on house

POLICE officers were attacked by a man armed with an axe as they raided a house in Withywood.

The man was arrested on suspicion of affray after he was overpowered in Molesworth Close.

He was one of more than 200 people arrested in Bristol and the surrounding area yesterday, as part of the latest police crackdown on persistent criminals.

They included six known petty criminals from other EU nations known to have been offending in the city.

Working with UK Borders Agency officers in an operation that was the first of its kind in the city, they identified and arrested six people, all of whom have now been served deportation orders forcing them to leave the country.

In South Gloucestershire 28 people were arrested, including seven men from Nottingham, aged between 17 and 31, who have been linked with a number of recent burglaries.

A suspected cannabis factory with 52 plants was uncovered at a house in Yate. A 38-year-old man was arrested. Further bags of suspected cannabis bush were found at a house in Winterbourne Down, where a man aged 20 was arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs with intent to supply.

Other arrests in the area included a 17-year-old boy suspected of a sexual assault in Filton, two 18-year-olds arrested in connection with the robbery of a 15-year-old boy in Staple Hill and a woman aged 47 suspected of arson.

In North Somerset 27 people were arrested on suspicion of offences ranging from supplying drugs to racially aggravated assault.

A series of raids uncovered three cannabis factories and supplies of suspected heroin and crack cocaine in the district. Police also uncovered 14 pairs of suspected fake Ugg boots.

In B&NES, 36 people were arrested, including a 40-year-old man at a house in Warwick Road, Keynsham, where a quantity of cannabis and some suspected stolen goods were found.